A Big Secret
by NightlessDay
Summary: Halla wants to change her village's view of dragons. Her village, Berk, an island full of Vikings that's been fighting dragons for hundreds of years. Which, makes Halla's task even harder, but she's not going to give up. Fem!Hiccup
1. Chapter 1

**Sorry for deleting this fanfic again, and taking so long to put it back up. I just wanted it to be better by my standards, and the last rewrite wasn't as good as I had thought it was when I published it. But, this is the last time I'm rewriting it. I promise.**

**I don't own How to Train your Dragon.**

**Chapter 1**

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><p><strong>Female Hiccup - Halla<strong>

**Male Astrid - Arlan**

**Female Snotlout - Slimlout**

**Male Heather - Hall**

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><p><em>The Isle of Berk. A Viking island. Home to the Hooligans. We've lived here for generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and an awesome view of the sunset. It's also an island plagued by flying, fire-breathing reptiles. Most islands had mice or mosquitos. We have... dragons.<em>

A small girl opens the large door of her home only to see one passing by. He shoots fire her way, but she quickly shuts the door. "Dragons!" she whispers to herself before running into the chaos of the dragon raid.

_My name is Halla. Nice name, I know. But it's not the worst. Most parents believe a frightening name will scare off trolls. My name is the exception._

"What are you doing out?"

"Get back inside!" Passing Vikings shout at her.

Halla was distracted by them, and-not paying attention to what was in front of her-was pulled back by someone, barely escaping being burned alive by a dragon flying overhead.

"What are you doing out?" a large man shouts in her face before turning to the people around him, "What is she doing out? Get back inside!"

_That was Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe. They say when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off its shoulders. Do I believe it? Yes I do. Why? Because he's my father._

He had pushed Halla towards the forge where she was apprenticed as a blacksmith.

"Oh, nice of you to join the party!" her mentor greeted her. "I was beginning to think you'd been carried off."

"Who me? Oh, no. I'm too much for them."

"I think you'd be good for a toothpick."

_The meathead with the interchangeable arm is Gobber. I have been working with him since I was little. Well, littler._

She opens the front window, and Vikings are already lined up to get their weapons either sharpened or repaired.

Outside the forge, dragons are putting multiple houses on fire.

_See? Old village. Lots and lots of new houses._

Halla sees the other teens in her village putting out the fires. The fire brigade. There was Fishlegs, Slimlout, the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Arlan.

_Arlan's the best of my age group. He is an excellent fighter and he's actually kind of good looking. Arlan is everyone's favorite. Maybe that's why I like him so much. Or... maybe because he is everything I want to be._

They leave to go put out more fires, Halla stares after them. _Their job is so much better._

"Oh, no you don't." Gobber says as he pulls her away from the window.

"Gobber. Please just let me out!" she pleaded. "I need to make my mark!" It's what she was saying, but Halla didn't really care about killing dragons.

"You've made plenty of marks, Halla. All in the wrong places! You can't pick up a hammer, you can't swing an axe. You can't even throw one of these!" he said holding up a bola.

"Gobber, please!" Halla begged-which she didn't normally do.

"No," he said firmly, and gave her a sword. "Sword. Sharpen. Now."

_Killing Dragons is everything around here. I'm not one for it though. I wanted to make peace with them instead._

Outside, five different types of dragons fly around, adding up to a lot of dragons total. They're all causing havoc in the village.

_Among the dragons that commonly attacked our village were Deadly Nadders, it could shoot poisonous spikes out of its tail.  
>Gronkles, you can't tell its head from its behind.<br>Hideous Zipplebacks, two heads, one fires gas, the other lights it.  
>Monstrous Nightmares, they have a habit of setting themselves on fire.<br>And... the Night Fury. No one has ever seen a Night Fury, that's why it was such a big prize._

_We get the occasional Timberjack or Thunderdrum, but that's pretty much it._

_I used to want to kill dragons, but that changed after I met Clematis. She's a Hobblegrunt. I found her injured in the forest. I tried to kill her, but I couldn't. Instead, I helped her. We became closer. Now she's my best friend. One of my only friends. If Gobber counts as one. She showed me a whole different side of Dragons, the better side of them._

_I was hoping with my new knowledge of dragons, I could someday change the minds of the villagers. So far, that wasn't going too well. I always failed and had to pretend I still wanted to harm them._

"Look after the forge, Halla," Gobber said. "They need me out there." He turned to leave before he stopped and looked at Halla, "Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean." His final warning before he went to fight in the chaos.

The small Viking took this chance to put her plan into action. She ran through the entrance of the forge, ignoring the yells from the Vikings waiting for their weapons.

"Sorry! I'll be back!" Halla yelled to them. "I promise!"

She continued running at full speed to an empty part of the village, hoping to find a dragon far enough from the other villagers. She didn't want to be distracted... or caught.  
>The Gods must have been on her side that night. She had found an isolated Nadder flying around. From what she could tell, it was a nice blue color with purple markings.<p>

She needed to get the dragon down somehow. Keeping her eyes on the Nadder, she pulled some grass out of her pocket.  
><em>Dragon Nip. Clematis had shown me it about a month ago. Its effect on dragons is kind of similar to the effects of catnip on cats. The difference is that when a dragon has dragon nip rubbed on the tip of their nose and around their face, their pupils dilate, they stop flying or attacking and they begin to rub the dragon nip over their bodies, rolling in it if possible, and playing around in it or with it.<em>

The Nadder had stopped flying, and was going down to Halla. It landed a few feet in front of her. It looks at her cautiously.

"It's okay," Halla said, "I'm not gonna hurt you." The Nadder, clearly being able to understand Halla, took one step closer. "That's it."

The dragon looked at the grass in the girl's hand, "Do you want this?" The dragon turned its attention to her.

"Here. You can have it. Girl?" Seeing as the blue dragon didn't object, she guessed it was a girl. The Nadder took another step forward, then another, and another. Until it was directly in front of Halla.

The Nadder looked into Halla's eyes, searching for any sign that the small Viking would hurt her. She saw only hope in her eyes. Not what she was expecting to see.

Halla was staring at the dragon, waiting for it to make another move. And hoping that move wouldn't be to hurt her. The Nadder leaned forward a bit to sniff the grass.

It gave a happy growl to show that it liked it, and started to rub its snout up against the Dragon Nip. Halla smiled as she watched the dragon, "I think I should give you a name." The Nadder looked at her curiously. "How about... Azure?" rubbing the Dragon Nip against the dragon's nose.

The Nadder thought about it before nodding. "Alright. Azure it is," Halla confirmed. She continued to rub the grass against Azure's snout as she looked around. Part one of her plan now completed, now all she needed was to to show somebody.

This time, she wasn't that lucky.  
>Above, dragons were flying away from Berk. <em>Too late.<em>

Halla watched the dragons fly away for a few more seconds. She turned back towards Azure, "Time for you to go, girl." She turned away, expecting the Azure to follow the other dragons. But, she didn't. Instead, she followed Halla.

She turned around at the sound of the Nadder's not-so-quit footsteps. "What are you doing?" she stuck out her hands, "You have to go."

"Halla!" she turned around and to saw her father running around, "Halla!" In his hand, she saw his favorite hammer. _Must be looking for me._ Behind her Azure gave a worried roar.

The dragon jumped in front of her, protectively, just in case the large Viking ran over her friend. "Azure! No!" Halla begged, "Go with your friends!"

Halla looked past Azure at her father. He still hadn't seen them. "Azure go."  
>Azure looked back at her. Halla pleaded with her eyes. The Nadder saw the look in her new friends eyes, and hesitantly spread her wings. She looked at the large Viking again, and back at Halla. "He's not going to hurt me. He's my father, but I don't want him to see you."<p>

The dragon looked skeptical. "Go. He's going to kill you if he sees you, and he might hurt me if he sees you with me," Halla tried.  
>It worked. Not wanting to get Halla hurt, Azure flew away. "Bye."<p>

Halla made sure Azure was far away from Berk before walking towards her father.

It was when she got closer she realized how angry Stoick might me. She had gone out when she wasn't supposed to. He was always angry when she did. Halla didn't want her father to yell at her... again.

She would either have to go anyways or she could go into the forest, and meet up with Clematis... She chose to go into the forest.

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><p>Before Halla was able to go to the forest, she had to get food for Clematis. She decided to go to her home and take some of the extra fish she and her father kept there, in their storage. There was little chance of Stoick seeing her there since he was probably out helping with repairs. Plus, she didn't want to risk any of the villagers seeing her steal fish from their storage.<p>

She burst through the doors once she made it to her house. Not bothering to close the door behind her, she ran to the back of the house, where they kept their meat and fish. She grabbed a basket from off the wall, making her way over to the fish. She grabbed a few and threw them into the basket. For Clematis, she only had to fill it up about halfway. Halla had just closed the top of the bag when she heard loud footsteps coming from the front of the house. She quickly ran to the front of the house and saw Slimlout standing in the doorway.

"Hey, cuz," Slimlout greeted when she saw Halla.

_Oh, she's actually being nice now._

Slimlout Jorgenson. Not the best example of a cousin. Unless you consider someone who is nice to you one minute and pushes you into a puddle of mud the next a good cousin. She wanted to appear _cool _when she was in front of the other teens.

"What are you doing her, Slimlout?" Halla asked, "Shouldn't you be with your _friends_."

The brute of a girl almost looked like she was hurt, but there was also a twinge of annoyance. There always was, Halla had noticed a while ago. "I'm sorry, Halla," she apologized, "But, you know how it is..."

"Really?" Halla rolled her eyes, "Because, I don't think I do. I don't have friends like you do."

She was getting tired of her cousin. It was hard not to. Halla never knew how Slimlout would treat her. She was unpredictable.

"Look, Halla," she tried to reason. "This won't have to go on much longer," she paused, trying to think of what to say, "All you have to do... is actually... be... good at fighting."

Halla rolled her eyes again. "You're helping your case so much, Slimout," she said sarcastically. She was getting really tired of her cousin's insult, but she had to stay calm.

Slimlout gave a frustrated sigh. "Halla, I'm trying to be friendly. Can't you see that?"

"I _can _see that, Slimlout," Halla admitted. "But..."

She didn't have a chance to finish her sentence. Slimlout had rushed out of the house and out the door before she could. Halla walked to the doorway, to see her cousin. Slimlout was running towards the killing arena at full speed.

_This is gonna come back, and bite me in the butt. _She knew that for sure. _I'll deal with her later._

She didn't spend too long staring at the door and the village. She had to get to Clematis. Plus, she didn't want Stoick seeing her.

Halla went back to the storage, grabbing the basket she had left. Closing it, she put it on her shoulder. She walked out the back door without a second thought.

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><p>Halla jumped into the cove that she kept Clematis hidden in. She was careful to avoid the many tree roots that lay on the ledges she used to get down. She saw the little Hobblegrunt sitting by the pond.<p>

"Clematis!" Halla called. "I got your fish."

The dragon's head perked up. Halla walked up to Clematis, sat the basket down in front of her, and knocked it over so the fish spilled out. The dragon dove hungrily into the fish, purring as she did. Halla turned to walk back out of the cove, but stopped when she remembered the Nadder from earlier.

Turning around, she said to Clematis, "Hey, Clematis."

The dragon looked up from her food for a second before continuing to eat. She didn't seem to be interested in what her friend was about to say, and Halla could see that.

"Oh, well," she turned to walk out of the cove, "I guess you don't want to hear about the dragon I befriended."

That got the response Halla was looking for. Clematis looked up from her food again, paying full attention to Halla. Halla turned around, meeting the white eyes of the Hobblegrunt.

"Oh, you do want to hear what happened?" she inquired. On the outside, she seemed very calm, and acting like she wasn't really interested in what she was about to talk about. But, on the inside, she was bubbling with excitement. She really wanted to tell Clematis, she was just delaying a bit.

She smirked. "Well..." Halla paused, "I named her Azure, and she is a Nadder."

Clematis looked even more interested than before. She tilted her head to the right.

"And I was thinking maybe I could find her again," Halla offered. She'd always tell her plans to Clematis. The small dragon was very helpful.

Clematis looked at Halla, curious. As if to ask how.

"Well... I haven't thought about that yet," Halla said." I was just kind of hoping I would see her again."

Halla watched Clematis' bogy language closely for any signs of sadness. The dragon was usually pretty sad when Halla came back to the cove after a dragon raid without a dragon. Halla guessed she was kind of lonely, being in the cove, alone. But, Clematis didn't make any movements to indicate she was sad. That was a good thing.

"But, who knows. Maybe she's still flying around here somewhere," she tried. "You never know."

Clematis' head perked up, she looked impossibly happy. That was a good thing.

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><p>Halla ran through the forest, running as fast as she could. <em>Have to get home. Have to get home. <em>She repeated to herself. She had spent too much time in the cove. The time passed so fast. She was going to be late. Her dad was gonna kill her._ What am I gonna do?_

Her dad didn't really like his daughter being on the forest alone... and at night. Especially when he hadn't seen her all day. It was going to be pretty bad when she got home, and she knew it.

As she ran, Halla was thinking of an excuse, she hadn't managed to think of anything yet. But, she had managed to trip over a few rocks and tree roots, only falling once. _What am I gonna do? _She thought again.

After running a few more feet, she decided to slow down. She was almost back to the village anyways. Halla eventually slowed to walking speed. She continued on, panting hard. She looked up at the sky, there were a few stars out already. Luckily, she was a few minutes away from the village, maybe fifteen minutes.

She'd been walking for a minute or two when she heard rustling beside her. She looked to her left, not seeing anything, she continued walking. A few feet later, she heard rustling again, ahead of her. She took a few steps toward it.

As she got closer, she noticed a figure. It was a dragon, laying down in the middle of the path. She could tell that much. But, not what kind it was. It was probably a new species.

She held her hands out in front of her, and slowed her pace a bit. "Hey," she said softly.

The dragon opened its eyes. Its large acid green eyes. The dragon's pupils were dilated, looking like a dog's eyes.

The pair of eyes landed on her, its pupils suddenly turning into slits. She was the figure quickly got up and flew off into the night sky. Halla looked up, trying to find where it was, but she couldn't find it.

There were more stars in the sky. She was going to be even more late. She broke into a run toward her village. And didn't stop until she made it home.

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><p>Halla walked through the front door of her house, struggling somewhat to open the door. Stoick was sitting by the fire pit, tending to the fire. Halla silently closed the door behind her, trying not to get her father's attention. She tried to sneak by, and up the stairs to her room, but her father had some kind of super-hearing. She had barely made it up the stairs before he called on her.<p>

"Halla," he said, looking up from the fire.

She flinched slightly. "Uhhh... hi, dad," she said nervously, climbing back down the stairs reluctantly.

Stoick got up from the stool he was sitting on, "We need to talk, Halla." He walked over to where his daughter was standing, by the foot of the stairs.

Halla sighed. _Here's my chance_. She thought. "Uhhh... I need to talk to you too, dad."

She stepped down from where she stood on the stairs. She looked at her father as she did so.

An awkward silence follows before Stoick clears his throat, "You get your wish."

Halla stares at her dad, slightly confused. "What wish?" she asks.

"Dragon training," Stoick quickly says, "You get your wish."

Halla groaned. _Dragon training..._

Stoick continued, "You start in the morning. Don't miss it." The large man went back to the fire pit, and picked up a large bag, obviously filled with clothes.

"Dad?" Halla said. Stoick answered with a small 'hmmm'.

Halla took a deep breath. She had to tell him... But, not the whole truth of course.

"I don't think I can fight dragons."

Stoick laughed, "Sure you can. You're a viking, and that's what we do."

"Yeah, but don't we have enough dragon-fighting vikings?" Halla inquired. "Why not more bread-making vikings, or more... house-building vikings?" She made a gesture with her hands of what she guessed was a house.

Stoick stared at her, realizing she was _very _serious. "You do know that if you don't complete your dragon training you can't be chief?"

Halla looked down at the floor, "I know. But, can't you find someone else to take my place?"

Her father looked surprised, "Take your place? But, you're a Haddock."

She almost gave up then. He was making this harder than it had to be.

"Dad," she said, almost in despair, "we both know that I'm not suited to be a viking... or a chief." She gestured to herself.

Stoick thought about her words for a moment. She did have a point, as much as he hated to admit that to himself.

"Okay," he said reluctantly, "No dragon training... I'll find someone else to be the heir." He said the last part slowly.

"Thank you," Halla breathed.

Stoick picked up the bag he hadn't realized he had dropped. He slung it over his large shoulder. "Be good," he told Halla as he walked toward the front door. "I'll be gone awhile. Another search for the nest."

"I will," she said with a slight frown on her face. He probably wasn't going to find the nest.

He opened the door, "I'll be back, probably."

"And I'll be here, maybe," she replied.

Stoick walked out the house, slamming the door behind him, and leaving Halla alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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><p>Halla walked through the forest, on her way to Clematis' cove. She had a basket completely full of fish on her back. She would probably be spending a few hours with the dragon, so she might as well bring along enough fish to last that long. She didn't have anything to do anyways, Halla had talked her dad out of making her go to Dragon Training the night before.<p>

She sighed as she remembered the look on his face when she practically said she didn't care about being a Viking. It was like she could _smell _the disappointment coming off of him. That made her feel guilty, and she had kind of wanted to tell him why she didn't want to go through with Draogn Training. But, she knew she couldn't tell him why. She cared about Clematis too much to just throw their friendship out the window.

Halla looked up from the ground, and barely missed a black tail disappearing behind a nearby boulder. She froze. A few moments passed before she heard a rustling sound coming from behind her. She quickly turned around; her eyes landed on a large bush whose leaves were swaying slightly. She dropped the basket and slowly crept toward the bush, her hands in front of her.

The bush's leaves rustled again, and Halla paused. She parted the leaves and out jumped a small, gray dragon. It pushed her to the ground, and it now stood on her chest, growling. The dragon spewed smoke out of its mouth. Its pupils were slits.

Halla looked at it wide-eyed. "Okay, okay," she said, breathing fast.

Who would have thought a little, tiny dragon could have subdued a Viking? Even a Viking as small and unskilled as Halla. She reached up to take the dragon off of her, but the thing nipped at her fingers. "I'm not going to hurt you."

I didn't seem to believe her and more smoke came out of its mouth. Halla held her breath, not wanting to breath it in.

"Whisp!" Halla heard someone call from a distance. A girl. The dragon's head immediately shot up.

"Whisp?" Halla whispered curiously. The dragon looked down at her. "Is that you?"

The dragon stared at her, its' pupils slowly dilating. It stepped off of her.

"Whisp!" The name was repeated, this time closer.

Halla stared at the dragon... Whisp. He stared back at her with large, yellow eyes, head cocked to the side. Halla continued staring at Whisp for a moment. This dragon had a human friend. A _human _friend. Halla wasn't the only person who had befriended a dragon. A small smile came to her face. She had to meet this person, she had to get close, and that meant she would have to gain Whisp's trust.

She reached her hand out to touch Whisp who still hadn't moved from his spot on the ground. The dragon growled as he got into a defensive stance. Halla froze, her arm still extended. Apparently, she had come too close for his liking.

"It's okay," she tried to calm him back down. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to meet the girl who is calling your name. I won't hurt you or her." Her words did something. The dragon suddenly stopped growling and flew away.

"Wait!" Halla exclaimed. She panicked. This might be the only chance of her finding the girl who Whisp belonged to. She could have another dragon that would take her off of Berk.

She turned back to the basket of fish she had left on the ground. She could leave it there for a while. It probably wouldn't take her long to find the girl.

She bolted after the the tiny dragon. The next couple of minutes were full of Halla running through the forest after Whisp. Along the way she almost tripped over countless tree roots, and ran into low-hanging branches.

Ahead of her she saw Whisp stop at the edge of a clearing. Halla slowed to a walking speed, breathing heavily. The grass of the clearing was quite tall, probably reaching to her hips. There were a few flowers and large rocks were scattered around the clearing.

"Hey," she called to the dragon. It turned its head and stared at her with its large yellow eyes again. Halla took a few more steps toward him. Before she reached him, he flew into the clearing. "Where are you going, little guy?"

Whisp flew into the grass of the clearing, disappearing under the tall grass. Halla sighed. The dragon moved around too much for her liking. She tried her best to follow the thing in the tall grass, but it wasn't easy seeing him. Even with his dark color.

She eventually saw him sitting on one of the rocks, as if he was waiting for her. His long tail thumped on the surface of the rock. Halla rolled her eyes. "Well, I can't really see you. You're kind of small."

Whisp turned around.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Halla almost yelled. Whisp turned around, looking at her curiously. "You better not be flying off again. I don't feel like running after you again."

The dragon stared at the strange girl a few feet away from him blankly then curiously. Didn't she want to meet her? His friend. That's what she had said she wanted to do. He turned around, ignoring the girl as she began speaking again, and jumped through the grass. He heard the girl walking through behind him, and turned around to face her again.

They were in a campsite. The grass had been flattened to allow it to be there. Halla could tell it was a dragon that had stomped on the grass. There were a couple of makeshift tents made from a few covers and some sticks. A campfire that had long burned out awhile ago lay in the middle of the campsite.

Halla stepped forward, the grass crunching up under her feet. She turned toward Whisp. He was staring at one of the tents. That must be where the girl is. But, wasn't she looking for Whisp? She had been calling his name.

Halla crept toward the tent. She looked back at the dragon. It didn't seem like he was going to stop her, so she kept going. She reached out to grab one of the covers that had been draped over the tent. She lifted up the cover.

She expected a girl to be behind the cover, so what she saw surprised her. It was a boy. He was a boy about her age, and had jet-black hair and pale skin. His eyes were closed, he was sleeping.

Halla got down on her hands and knees. She crawled into the tent a bit and shook his shoulder. The boy stirred a bit, but didn't wake up. She shook his shoulder again and his eyes opened a bit. He sat up and turned his head to look at her, his brows furrowed.

He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off when Whisp flew into the tent. The boy yelped as the gray dragon flew into his chest. Halla had moved to the side to avoid being knocked over by the small dragon.

She watched as Whisp began to lick the boy's face. The boy practically threw him off and wiped the saliva off himself with a disgusted look on his face.

"Whisp!" he cried. "You know I hate that!"

He wiped the last of the dragon's spit off his face before he opened his eyes again. They were a pale green. His eyes landed on her. "Who are you?" he questioned.

"Uh... I'm Halla," she said after a moment or two of silence. "I live in the village on this island."

"Village?" the boy sounded confused. He began to crawl out of the tent, and Halla backed up to let him out. He looked around at the forest. "Where am I?"

Halla stared at him. He didn't know where he was.

"Berk," she answered simply. "You didn't know that?"

He shook his head. "No." His eyes widened suddenly, and he looked around again. "Did you see a girl? Black hair and blue eyes."

"No. But, I did hear a girl earlier. She was looking for him." Halla pointed toward Whisp. The boy's eyes follow where she points.

He quickly looks back at Halla, his brows furrowed again. "Why didn't you kill him? Don't the Vikings on Berk kill dragons?"

Halla shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, well I'm not like most Vikings on Berk. I don't kill dragons, I don't even hurt them." She remembers Clematis, who still hadn't gotten her fish. And, the basket she had brought was still where she had met Whisp.

"Clematis!" she says suddenly.

"What!"

"Clematis," Halla repeated. "My dragon. I forgot to feed her." She turns back the way she and the dragon came. "I'll be right back."

"I could go with you. What's the point in me staying here?"

"What about that girl?"

"She can take care of herself," he sticks his hand out, "I'm Hall by the way."

Halla shakes his hand. "Okay... nice to meet you I guess."

* * *

><p>"Clematis!"<p>

The dragon's head perked up. She noticed Halla looking down at her from the top of the cove. Clematis quickly stood up, waiting for her friend to descend the cove wall.

When she did, she wasn't lugging a huge basket full of fish like she usually did when she visited in the mornings. Clematis moved towards Halla who outstretched her hands to stroke the Hobblegrunt's scales.

"Hey, girl," she met Clematis with a big grin on her face. "I have something to show you."

Clematis sniffed Halla's hands, wondering where her food was before looking her in the eye. She tilted her head to the side.

"Don't worry," Halla said, supposing Clematis was hungry. "You'll get your fish." She began to lead the dragon back to the cove entrance. "Just come on."

Wanting the fish that Halla had promised, Clematis followed her willingly. Clematis spread her wings and leapt out of the cove. She waited as patiently as she could for Halla to come out, too. She looked around the forest. It had been a while since she had been out of the cove.

The pair continued, Clematis lingering behind Halla. Eventually, they came to a place where the trees were more spread out. There was the usual boulder and bush spread out like the trees were. Leaning against one of the boulders was a boy, a basket of fish beside him.

He noticed the two. "Oh, you're back," he said to Halla. He stood up.

"Yep," Halla said awkwardly, "Just like I said I would be." She stepped in front of Clematis who had been staring at the boy with an inquiring look. "Clematis, Hall. Hall, Clematis." She gestured between the two.

Hall picked up the basket and dropped it on the ground in front of Clematis. "What kind of dragon is she?"

Clematis knocked the basket over, and the fish spilled out.

"Umm, a Hobblegrunt," Halla answered. "I, uh, found her just outside my village a few months ago. She's the one who changed my view of dragons."

Hall stroked Clematis' head as she ate her fish. The dragon turned a pleased, green color.

"She changes colors?"

Halla stood there awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, it depends on her mood." Halla looked around. "Where's Whisp?"

The tiny dragon was missing.

"He flew off. Probably went to look for my sister."

"Sister?" Halla asked puzzled. He didn't mention a sister before. "What sister?"

"The girl I was with. The one you heard calling Whisp's name, Afdis. She's my sister."

"Oh," said dumbly. Of course it was that girl.

Halla watched as Hall sat down next to Clematis, who sat her head on his lap, relaxed. She seemed to like him already. Most likely because he was the one who gave her food. She sat down on the boulder Hall had been leaning on previously. She took out her notebook and began to draw the scene in front of her.

"What's so interesting about me and a dragon?" Hall asked a few moments later.

Halla's face reddened slightly. He saw her drawing. "Well, it's just kind of calming right now, in a bizarre, inexplicable way. There's no violence, no anger… no fire. Just a calm, placid atmosphere surrounding us.

Hall remained quiet for a moment. "It's more unusual than calming. You're taught from the moment you're born that dragons are mindless, killing machines. That they should be killed on sight." He looked down at Clematis who stared back at him. "Then, there's this."

Halla thought over his words. It definitely was weird. Being taught to do something, then completely going against that. Defying tradition, going against everything you thought you knew about something.

It was even stranger. They were Vikings, they should despise dragons, not be spending a tranquil morning with them. You'd think, after all the years of war, Vikings wouldn't have to be taught dragons were bad. They just knew. You'd think it's be a trait passed down from parent to child by now.

"And, what does your sister think?"

"She does what she thinks is right," Hall shrugged. "And, I follow her because… she my little sister, you know? I can't leave her behind."

Clematis nuzzled the boy's stomach who rubbed her scales in return. Halla stayed quiet.

"But, now," he continued. "It's kind of starting to sink in… Dragons aren't our enemies anymore. Me, you, and my sister."

Halla nodded, silently agreeing with his words. She went back to her drawing, glad the pair across from her hadn't moved around too much. "We don't have to fight them. But, others don't know that. They still think all dragons are bad."

"Yeah, but what are we gonna do? Viking are stubborn," he chuckled.

"Yep," Halla agreed. "But, we could try. I've been."

"And… how far have you gotten?"

Halla looked down at her drawing. She hadn't been doing very well. Most of the dragon raids she had tried to befriend a dragon in either ended with her being chased by a dragon, or being caught and yelled out by her father. It really didn't help that she wasn't allowed out of the forge during dragon raids.

"Not very," she sighed. "I'm not really supposed to be out during dragon raids. I have to stay in the forge, I'm the blacksmith's apprentice."

Hall looked confused. "You aren't supposed to be out? Even if you're the blacksmith's apprentice you can still, like, help."

Halla shook her head. "I can't. My dad won't let me, and he's kind of the chief, so…" she trailed off.

"Oh, well, that kind of sucks," Hall pointed out. "Why?

Halla gestured to herself. "Look at me. I'm a runt of the village. I was born early, and was extremely small, I'm just lucky I didn't get named 'Hicca.' Plus, my mother was carried off by a dragon during a dragon raid when I was a baby. My dad's _very _protective because of that."

The boy across from her began eyeing the ground, looking very awkwardly. "Oh, that must… suck."

Halla sighed. "You have no idea," she reached her hand out to touch Clematis' scales. The dragon had crept toward her during her miniature rant, sensing her friend's frustration. "I don't really have any friends back in my village. Clematis was my first _real _friend."

"Then it's a good thing you found her," Hall said with a small smile on his face.

The dragon nestled up against Halla, trying to comfort her. Halla nodded in agreement. She really was glad she had Clematis. She was a good dragon friend. Clematis didn't care about her being a runt. The dragon actually cared about her. She smiled to herself, knowing Clematis would always be by her side, would always stick with her.

Shuffling to her right caught her attention. She looked up, it was Hall. "I wish I had a dragon friend like Clematis."

Halla chuckled. "But, you have Whisp."

"You really think that little lizard actually cares about me," Hall said playfully. "If it weren't for my sister, he'd have up-and-left me by now."

Halla smiled. "Really? He seemed to actually like you before."

"Nah, that was just an act," he corrected her. "Whisp was just trying to get you to think he was a little angel of a dragon."

Halla giggled. "Oh, come on," she poked Hall's arm playfully, "he can't be that bad."

"Believe me. He's a lot worse than you'd think a little guy like him would be."

Halla giggled again. She was having fun with Hall, he was funny, and he already showed he was good at cheering people up. But, maybe he got a little help from Clematis. The dragon always made her feel better when the twins bullied her.

If how Hall treated her meant they were friends only after about an hour of knowing each other, then Halla really had a reason to be happy. He wasn't unpleasant to be around, he treated her like any other Viking would treat their friend. Plus, he was friends with a dragon, which was the best part about him so far. He didn't needlessly kill the innocent. He saw past their rough scales and fiery breath, like his sister, according to him.

He had said he saw dragons a different way because of her. Maybe she and Halla could be friends, too. That would be nice. And, if she took both of them back to her village, they could help her stop the war between Berk and dragons. Then, maybe, the whole Archipelago. But, Berk a good enough start.

"Hey," she said.

"Yeah?"

"How about... when we see your sister, how about we go back to my village?"

His smiled disappeared. "What?"

"Well, I was thinking, the three of us could go back to my village. You two could stay there until you're ready to go." As she finished, she realized telling him about her plan to make Vikings and dragons friends, and end a whole war wasn't a very good idea.

"Oh, you… you don't have to do that. We can stay out here, in the forest."

"No, no, no," she said quickly. "It's the least I could do for fellow dragon-lovers."

"Dragon-lovers?" Hall questioned.

"Yeah, what's wrong with dragon-lovers?" Halla defended. "We love our dragons don't we?"

Hall shook his head, trying not to laugh. Dragon-lovers? "I guess?" it sounded more like a question. "To be honest, I don't really know how to reply to that."

"Yeah, it is kind of stupid," Halla admitted. "But, you shouldn't have to stay out here. It's a forest."

"What about the dragons?" Hall inquired. "Where are they going to stay?"

Halla pointed in the direction of the cove. "The cove. It's pretty safe there. And Clematis already stays there."

"Okay, when Whisp comes back with my sister, we can all talk about going to your village."

* * *

><p>It was still light out when Whisp returned with Afdis. An hour must have passed before the two heard a small hiss. Halla and Hall looked up from Halla's notebook. Clematis was napping, her head resting on Halla's lap with the girl's notebook placed atop the dragon's head.<p>

Whisp landed on Halla's shoulder greeting the girl. "Hey, Whisp."

The dragon looked around, and his eyes landed on the dragon sleeping on the new girl's lap. Who was she?

"Where's Afdis?" Hall said looking around.

The dragon stared back towards the direction he had come from. Hall followed the dragon's gaze and saw his sister standing there.

"What is going on here?" Afdis stood there, gaping at the scene in front of her. Her brother was sitting next to a girl, who had a dragon sleeping on her lap. "Who's she?"

"Uhh…" Hall stood up. "This," he gestured to Halla, "is Halla."

She waved awkwardly. "Hey."

"And, this," Hall continued, pointed to the Hobblegrunt, "is Clematis."

Whisp looked down at the larger dragon, appearing to be slightly jealous by the way he was looking at her. Clematis' eyes opened lazily when she heard Hall say her name.

"Hey," Halla whispered, petting the dragon's sleepy head. "Did you have a nice nap?" The dragon nuzzled against her friend as a response.

Afdis observed the girl, Halla, and her dragon, Clematis. They were friends, obviously, they weren't killing each other. Unlike the other Vikings she had seen that lived on this island. Those Vikings killed dragon, she could the dragon heads through the Vikings opened windows. It disgusted her. But, then there was this girl. She and her dragon were close, she could see that. But, why?

"Afdis?" she turned her attention back to her brother. "Why don't you sit down? Let's talk."


End file.
